Lawrence Sephaka is a South African rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer. His usual position is at prop, preferably Tighthead.

He currently plays in the Super 14

Super 14

Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere...

 for the Lions.

In 2007 he played in Rugby Pro D2

Rugby Pro D2

Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second level of domestic club rugby union in France, below the first division, Top 14. The competition was introduced in 2000. There is relegation and promotion between both the Top 14 and Fédérale 1, the third-level competition...

, the second level of the French professional league

Ligue nationale de rugby

The French National Rugby League is the name of the national professional rugby union league system of France. It is divided into two divisions:*Top 14*Rugby Pro D2-External links: *...

, for Toulon

RC Toulonnais

RC Toulonnais is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

, an ambitious side which signed international stars such as George Gregan

George Gregan

George Musarurwa Gregan AM is an Australian rugby union halfback who has made more appearances for his national team than any other player in the sport's history....

, Victor Matfield

Victor Matfield

Victor Matfield is a South African rugby union player. He has played for, and captained the Springbok rugby team as well as the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls franchise in the Super 14...

, Anton Oliver

Anton Oliver

Anton David Oliver is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer who most recently played professionally for the French second-division club Toulon, noted for signing veteran greats including former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga and great George Gregan...

, and Andrew Mehrtens

Andrew Mehrtens

Andrew Philip Mehrtens MNZM is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, currently playing in France for Béziers, a club in the third-level Fédérale 1 league...

 in a drive for promotion.

He has in the past competed for the Golden Lions

Golden Lions

The Golden Lions is a provincial rugby team based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The team was originally known as Transvaal, before changes to the political landscape in South Africa forced a name change to the Gauteng Lions, before again being changed to the Golden Lions. For sponsorship reason...

 in the domestic Currie Cup

Currie Cup

The Currie Cup tournament is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring , featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces...

 competition.

Sephaka made his international debut for the Springboks on 1 December in 2001 in a match against the United States

United States national rugby union team

USA Rugby's men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in the sport of rugby union. The Eagles are currently ranked 17th by the IRB World Rankings. Their highest ranking was from November 2, 2006 – September 10, 2007 at the 14th position...

 at Robertson Stadium

Robertson Stadium

John O'Quinn Field at Corbin J. Robertson Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, located on the campus of the University of Houston. It is the home of the Houston Cougars football and women's soccer teams...

 in Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

. The Springboks won the game 43 points to 20.

He next played for the Springboks in 2002, earning six international caps that year. He played against Samoa

Samoa national rugby union team

The Manu Samoa is the men's representative side of the Samoa Rugby Union in both the 15's and the 7's for international competitions. The Samoa Rugby Union is owned by the affiliated rugby unions of Samoa. In Samoa, Manu Samoa is in honour of a famous Samoan warrior. From 1924 to 1997 Samoa was...

 on 6 June at Loftus Versfeld

Loftus Versfeld Stadium

Loftus Versfeld Stadium is a rugby and association football stadium situated in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 51,762 for rugby union and hosted the 2009 Currie Cup final...

 in Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

, which South Africa won 60 points to 18.

He was subsequently included in the Springboks' 2002 Tri Nations Series

2002 Tri Nations Series

The 2002 Tri Nations Series was contested from 13 July to 17 August between the Australia, New Zealand and South Africa national rugby union teams. The All Blacks won the tournament.-Table:-Results:...

 squad. He played in all four of the Tri Nations games that season against Australia

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 and the All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

. He earned another cap at the end of the year in November, in the 10 to 30 loss against France

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

 at Stade Vélodrome

Stade Vélodrome

The Stade Vélodrome is a football stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1, and was a venue in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. It is the largest club-football ground in France, with a capacity of 60,031 spectators,...

 in Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

.

In 2003 he played nine times for the Springboks, the first of which was the 29 to 25 victory over Scotland

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

 at King's Park

Kings Park Stadium

Kings Park , is a stadium in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in Durban, South Africa, which was originally built in 1891 and extensively renovated in the 1990s...

 in Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

. He played in the subsequent test against the Scottish and then in all four of the 2003 Tri Nations Series

2003 Tri Nations Series

The 2003 Tri Nations Series was contested from 12 July to 16 August between the Australia, New Zealand and South Africa national rugby union teams. The All Blacks won the tournament.-Table:-Results:...

 matches.

Sephaka was part of South Africa's 2003 Rugby World Cup

2003 Rugby World Cup

The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

 squad for Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. He played in three matches at the world cup, the 72 to six victory over Uruguay

Uruguay national rugby union team

The Uruguay national rugby union team is the representative side of Uruguay, governed by the Unión de Rugby del Uruguay. They have been playing international rugby since 1948. Their jersey is blue and black and they are known as Los Teros. They qualified twice for the Rugby World Cup, in 1999 and...

 and the six to 25 loss against England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

, both of which were contested at Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

's Subiaco Oval

Subiaco Oval

Subiaco Oval , known colloquially as Subi, is the highest capacity sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia...

, as well as the 46 to 19 win over Georgia

Georgia national rugby union team

The Georgia national rugby union team represents Georgia in rugby union. The team's nickname, The Lelos, comes from lelo burti, a traditional Georgian sport with strong similarities to rugby. Lelo has been adopted as the Georgian word for "try"...

 at Aussie Stadium

Aussie Stadium

Sydney Football Stadium is located in Moore Park, in Sydney, New South Wales. It was built in 1988, to be the city's premier "rectangular field" for rugby league, rugby union and football for major matches and domestic competition...

.

In 2005 he played in a mid-year test against France before going onto play in the Tri Nations. After the first match against Australia, he was then controversially dropped from the starting lineup for the subsequent match against the Wallabies. He however played in two tests at the end of the year, against Scotland and Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

. He was included in the Springboks' 2006 Tri Nations Series

2006 Tri Nations Series

-Week 2:-Week 3:-Week 4:* All Blacks retain Bledisloe Cup-Week 5:-Week 6:-Week 7:-Week 8:-Week 9:-External links:* * *...

 squad.

External links

• Lawrence Sephaka on sarugby.com
• Lawrence Sephaka on genslin.us